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New Low-End iMac - End of the Mini?

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niteFlight said:
http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/18/apple-releases-new-cheaper-imac-with-low-end-processor-priced-at-1099/

Why do I have the uncomfortable suspicion that this machine may be slotted to replace the Mini? If that is indeed the case, I'm highly disappointed.
Click to expand...

You could be right, since everyone needs a monitor, keyboard and mouse anyway(which usually
raises the price of the Mini to $1000 +) Why not just buy the whole package and make it simpler?
The iMac display is generally better than what most use with their minis. I'm really going to miss
the Mini but probably wouldn't have bought a new one anyway. CustoMacs are so much more
powerful for a lot less money. My first Mac was the original PPC version from 2005 still runs
great to this day :!:
 
I sincerely hope this isnt the end of the mini. It will be a sad time if that is true.

I was lucky recently to pick up a mid 2011 mini on ebay (The one with thunderbolt, 2.7 Ghz sandy cpu and the Radeon 6630M GPU). Best one they have ever made I reckon. I made the mistake of selling my last one, but this one is staying no matter what.

Bring out a new mini, decent mobile CPU or low end desktop acceptable, HD5200 graphics with an option for a discrete gpu, together with their usual fast SSD and I think it would sell.

Or even better, just stick a 4770R in there. Apple could easily succeed where the likes of Gigabyte have done a poor job of it.
 
NAS / Small Server
Z87E-ITX |  i7 4771 |  HD 4600
Steambox Pro Mk II
Z87E-ITX |  i7 4770S |  GeForce GTX 760
Yep. The reasons for my suspicions are as follows:

1) The margin on the Mini is simply too thin, and even of that thin margin, I suspect the lion's share is going to Intel

2) The Mini is cannibalizing iMac/Macbook sales. Within less than a year of buying my Mini, I maxed the RAM and installed a 256GB SSD in it myself and had a screamer of a little machine. Sure it had 2 cores fewer than any iMac but I never felt their absence, and my wallet got a big boost by not ponying the cash for an iMac. The 27" monitor I got cost way less than the Apple thunderbolt monitor but again, hundreds of dollars in savings.

The new low-end iMac is a truly crippled machine. Even the RAM is soldered onto the board and cannot be upgraded!
 
Back in 2005 when the first Minis became available, Apple's intention was to offer something small and very affordable to get folks to switch from their Windows desktop boxes. Steve Jobs always liked the idea of the Cube, this was just an evolution of the G4 Cube that was seen as a failure. At the time there were no Nucs or Chromeboxes Apple again was the first to make a desktop that tiny. The iPad and iPhone didn't exist yet. This was the first experience of using OS X for myself and many others. You can see evidence of this in all the "Get a Mac" TV commercials of the time that are coaxing people to switch to a Mac desktop or laptop from a product running Windows XP or Vista.

[video=youtube_share;DZSBWbnmGrE]http://youtu.be/DZSBWbnmGrE[/video]

I bought one just out of curiosity to see how they could get a fully functioning computer into that
tiny little form factor. I really liked it, especially OS X. I couldn't do a lot of video editing with it
though because the 1.25 GHz G4 processor couldn't handle HD video editing. There was no way
to upgrade the CPU so I mostly used it for net surfing, email and the like.

Today the first Apple product people buy in that same price range is an iPhone or iPad. So it's not really needed anymore to draw people into the Apple ecosystem. Don't think that the current Minis take away much from the sales of iMacs. The people that buy the Mini can't afford to spend $1200 or more on their home computer. It's really too bad that this is happening but I would guess that the new Apple TV will have almost an entry level Mac Mini built into it. Not as much hard drive capacity though due to the trend towards streaming content over the internet. If you think about it the New iMac with a TV tuner added could function as a complete media center. Add in a keyboard with Trackpad function built in for remote use and there you go. I'm guessing the new Apple TV will have at least a 40 inch 1200 or 1440 p or even 4K monitor and the OS X software built right in to it. It won't be cheap either but Apple has always tried to keep their line of products in the High Quality, High expense category.

I'm keeping my classic G4 Mac Mini for at least another 10-11 years. Then when it's the 30th
anniversary with all the nostalgia like there is now for the original Macintosh, some collector
will probably give me upwards of $1000 for a fully functional G4 mini from back in the 90's.
 
"'m keeping my classic G4 Mac Mini for at least another 10-11 years. Then when it's the 30th
anniversary with all the nostalgia like there is now for the original Macintosh, some collector
will probably give me upwards of $1000 for a fully functional G4 mini from back in the 90's."

I look on eBay and kick myself regularly for not hanging on to my Apple IIc for longer than I did ;)
 
I think, Apple has gone astray. Apple and cheep = Hummer and fuel-saving.
 
Don't think the Mini will disappear … there's a reason the Mini is offered with MacOSX Server too … it's Apples idea of a "Small Home Office Server" which , ofc, runs headless … I don't see an iMac (in any configuration) being sold/marketed as a small office Server, and the other solutions aren't marketed (nor priced) at small offices … that would leave a HUGE product gap for a big number of advertising agencies etc (usually offices of 5-6 employees).
 
This is a quote from Dec. 2012 Paul Teich who writes for Dice.com

"For most small businesses, the current trend is “embrace the cloud.” You and your local reseller are probably talking about this “cloud thing” and how to migrate your apps and data to a remote hosting center. Both Microsoft and Apple, which clearly recognize this trend, are building bridges to their cloud services in their newest small business OS offerings. Indeed, cloud services offer them better margins—but that means small-business server sales are rapidly becoming a casualty of the cloud.

The Mac Pro and OS X Server have played an important role in Apple’s ability to serve small businesses. As Apple focuses on what it does well (serving consumers) and as small business moves to the cloud, the market will shrink and Apple’s attention will divert from SMBs and the tower form factor. This is inevitable and likely to happen soon.
Selling servers isn’t in Apple’s long-term interest."

He predicted the demise of the large Mac Pro Tower two years ago. Like everyone else, Apple wants to promote it's cloud services rather than have each small biz run it's own server. Most of Apple's 12 billion a year plus in profits comes from selling iPads and iPhones to consumers who also use them in the business space. Revenue from Mac Minis running OS X Server is a drop in the ocean for Apple. It's days are likely numbered. I hope this isn't true but I just can't see it being otherwise. :(
 
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